A one hundred year old astronomical mystery may finally have been solved. Scientists have long wondered just what caused high energy particles called cosmic rays, which arrive on Earth from the far unknown reaches of the universe. But now we have a discovery by the South Pole Neutrino Observatory, appropriately named IceCube, which points the finger at a peculiar phenomena known as blazars. The IceCube Collaboration’s Professor Darren Grant joins us today here at The Star Spot.

Dave reports on the arrival of the Osiris-Rex mission at the asteroid Bennu. Then, when it comes to climate change, desperate times call for desperate measures, such as the plan we hear from Simon to spray chemicals into the atmosphere to reflect the sun’s heat back into space. And Tony explains the possible outcome of an astronomical event so energetic we detected its gravitational waves back in August 2017. Finally Amelia tells us we may have finally come a step closer to understanding what fuels the least-understood type of supernova.

The Star Spot is now on the Radio!

Star Spot podcast is now The Star Spot podcast and radio show. That’s right. Your favourite astronomy program is now travelling through space, specifically the 1280AM frequency. Our broadcaster, CJRU The Scope at Ryerson, is now available on the radio dial, which means you can join us at The Star Spot at 1280AM every Sunday 8PM and Tuesday 6PM Eastern Time.

Darren Grant is Assistant Professor of Physics at the University of Alberta. He is the Spokesperson for the IceCube Collaboration, referring to the South Pole Neutrino Observatory. Grant is Canada Research Chair in Astroparticle Physics and received an E.W.R. Steacie Memorial Fellowship from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada.